Thursday

Heat stars Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh might have found a way to get paid for playing basketball despite the current NBA lockout.

Heat stars Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh might havefound a way to get paid for playing basketball despite the currentNBA lockout.

Wade, James and Bosh are making plans to join other stars for asix-game tour that will traverse four continents and two weeks,according to multiple reports. Wade and Bosh have reportedly signedon for the tour and are awaiting James' commitment to the project.According to a report by ESPN, players who participate in the tourwill be paid in amounts ranging from six figures to $1 million.

The world tour would begin in San Juan on Oct. 30 before goingto London (Nov. 1 and 3), Macau, China (Nov. 5) and Melbourne,Australia (Nov. 8 and 9), according to a report by Yahoo.

Attempts to reach Wade, James and Bosh on Wednesday wereunsuccessful. James is scheduled to participate in an exhibitiongame on Sunday in Oklahoma City. NBA players have participated inexhibition games throughout the lockout to keep their skills sharpand keep their individual brands in the public eye.

If the tour materializes, it could be a nice paycheck while theNBA and the NBPA continue to haggle over terms of a new collectivebargaining agreement. The NBA owners' lockout reached its 111th dayWednesday.

League and union administrators met with a federal mediatorTuesday and Wednesday in the hopes of salvaging the season. Thefirst two weeks of the season have already been canceled, and moregames could be lost if a compromise in the CBA'sbasketball-related-income component is not worked out. Otherfactors are also being negotiated.

The NBA canceled potential plans for international games duringits preseason long before the NBA's owners locked out its playersnearly 3 1/2 months ago. Players like Wade, James and Kobe Bryantof the Los Angeles Lakers are international celebrities withlucrative marketability prospects in countries like China.

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